Sunday, August 13, 2017

Our wedding: The morning of/getting ready

When I woke up on September 4th, I could not believe it was my wedding day!!! The sun was streaming in the window and I just knew the weather was going to be perfect. I looked over at Bill and was just so excited. I couldn’t believe I was lying next to my future husband on the morning of my wedding on an airbed in my sister’s old room, but hey, things happen!

Sadly, we got a call soon after we woke up from Bill’s dad letting us know that over the night, they had to take his mom to the hospital. We found out that her kidneys were failing and there was definitely no way that she was going to make it to the wedding. I felt awful for Bill and his mom. He was really upset but I told him that she would hate knowing he was upset and would want us to enjoy our day.

I headed downstairs where my mom was in the kitchen and she said cheerily said “Good morning, BRIDE!” and I was initially happy to be called bride and then immediately started crying because I felt like everything was ruined and I felt like I shouldn’t be happy even though it was my own wedding day because I was also sad and worried about his mom. It was quite the roller coaster of emotions. She made me feel better and we had breakfast.

Bill’s friend arrived to take him away to get ready at the hotel and we said goodbye for the last time as fiances! Even though we woke up together and therefore had seen other other before the wedding on the day of the wedding, as tradition prohibits, it still felt like it was going to be a really long time until we saw each other at the wedding.

Before I left, I asked mom how the bustling of my dress was going because she hadn’t installed the bustle fastener yet and she hadn’t started! I decided to not focus on that and started getting ready for the day. I brought my stuffed bunny Toby with me who I’ve had since I was 2, mostly to be funny because I always said I would have him at the wedding, but he was actually pretty comforting! I wore my “bride” shirt that Amy’s mom got me.

With Sarah and Toby

I got there at the arranged time of 10am to meet the hair and makeup team and make sure that everything was going smoothly. As soon as I arrived, I promptly discovered that the elevator was broken. Off to a great start! As I started the ascent up the stairs to the 4th floor, I heard my grandma’s friend (and Angie’s grandma)’s voice in the stairwell and I said “Nancy??” The poor lady was climbing the stairs with one of my bridesmaids! I finally made it to the room and found the hair and makeup people all set up – they had to lug everything up the stairs! I felt terrible. This was the first time in my entire life that I’ve been one of the first people to show up somewhere. Literally everyone else was late besides Angie, lol. I started to get a little nervous at first, but then realized everything would work out, plus I didn’t really care too much since we were getting such an early start. Soon everyone started trickling in and the hair and makeup team got to work! I hired Salon EXP out of Dayton because they had done my friend Amy’s wedding and they did a great job so I knew they wouldn’t let me down, and they didn’t! Everyone looked stunning. Amy bought Winan’s for everyone and Kyle and Angie bought champagne.

When Amy arrived, she and I snuck away for a quiet moment and I took her on a little tour of the venue. Her jaw literally dropped when she saw it and she got teary eyed and said it was one of the most beautiful wedding venues she had ever seen! That was one of my favorite moments of the morning.

Back in the "get-ready room," we played some tunes and everyone just hung out while we got ready. The room was really hot and filled with hairspray, but I didn’t mind. I could not believe how fast the morning was going!

Amy getting her makeup done!

The photographers arrived and started snapping pics. At some point the DJs arrived. They came in and said hi and then got to work setting up. They turned out to be more than DJs, but were almost mini day-of wedding planners. I cannot say enough good things about them. Kim helped with so many different aspects while we were getting ready including setting up and making sure every last detail was right with the ceremony plan. Fun fact: both my photographers and DJs were married couples. I had a little pow-wow at some point with the DJs and Bill’s sister Sharon, letting them know what was going on with Bill’s mom. They came up with a plan for Sharon to dance with Bill instead of the mother-son dance. When our minister Kazy arrived, we had to let her know the situation too so that she could change her opening and be sure to say something about his mom. Everyone reacted so sadly when they heard about his mom but I had to keep strong and upbeat!

At some point, I think that I headed home to take a shower (but maybe I showered before… unsure) and then came back for my turn! First Tommy put my extensions in my hair, and then I hopped in the makeup chair. I told Erin that I wanted my makeup to look more like it did when I was a bridesmaid in Amy’s wedding rather than how it looked at my demo. I showed her a picture and she said no problem and got to work! Halfway through the makeup, someone (Bill?) called me about the shuttle we hired to take the boys and guests from the hotels to the venue and I realized in shocking horror that I had never even told anyone about the shuttle! I also hadn’t paid the transportation company. Abbie and Amy were communicating with everyone because I was getting my makeup done and someone convinced the driver to drive the boys to the venue and then I would have my cousin Lilly bring the money to the driver. The hotels put up some signs and I made a note to tell the DJ to announce when the shuttle arrived at the end of the night, and that was really all I could do! I never even saw the shuttle but I heard it all worked out ok. I also realized that I forgot to buy floating candles for the submerged lily vases, so Kyle and Angie headed to Walmart and got some. In the end, turns out they didn’t even fit in the vases!

Handling the shuttle situation

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Bill was getting ready in one of the groomsmen’s hotel rooms. He says eventually all the boys arrived and they had a few beers. No one knew how to fold pocket squares, so they spent a lot of time experimenting. The photographer arrived and they took pictures outside of the hotel under some trees. The party shuttle arrived and took them to the venue! (This was all I could get out of Bill about getting ready… #men!)

Little brother helping Bill with his tie!

Boys on the bus on the way to the venue

As I was in the makeup chair, Amy and Abbie both sat near me chatting and playing music. As I was in the chair, the florist arrived with my giant bouquet and set it on a table in the corner. He told me he added some more greenery to it and it looked beyond perfect. He also started bringing in the girl’s bouquets and the boutonnieres for the moms, grandmas and ring bearers. Everything was going so fast and it was getting closer to the ceremony time every minute!! It felt like I was in the makeup chair for hours, but when Erin finished my makeup, I looked in the mirror and was like WHOA. It was beyond perfect!!

Looking at my bouquet!

At some point, Kyle ran out to get the Subway and everyone forced me to eat a sandwich. I picked a spicy Italian even though I wasn’t too hungry!

I heard that Bill and the groomsmen had all arrived, so I had to make sure he wasn’t nearby anytime that I had to leave the room. My brother came in with my gift from Bill and I gave him my gifts for Bill and my wedding band to give to the best man. Bill gave me a beautiful tennis bracelet and I gave him a Bulova black-faced watch and a little pin that I made with photos of his grandpa and our dear friend Gunther who both passed away recently. The idea was for him to wear it on the inside of his jacket close to his heart, but I forgot to tell them that, so he wore it next to his boutonniere and it actually looked pretty nice. He later told me that he got really emotional when he saw the pin.

Outside of our room, there was a ton of hustle and bustle going on with all of the different people doing their things, from the florist to the caterers to the venue coordinator, the videographer, the DJs and the photographers, plus all of my cousins that I roped in to assist with morning tasks such as setting up candles and handing out programs. People would run in from time to time to ask me questions and I felt very important and simultaneously felt stressed out but also a sense of calm because I knew that in the end, it would all come together even though it seemed like chaos.

Next up it was time to finish my hair and at this point, we were getting pretty close! I sort of just let Tommy take over on how to style my hair. I hadn’t loved my trial hair, but he said the problem was that I need more hair which is why I bought the extensions, so I just let him take the wheel and I weirdly wasn’t nervous at all. As I was getting my hair done, my cousin Lilly came in and painted my toenails. Once my hair was done, I thought it looked great, but it was time to put on my hairpiece which was sort of a mix between a headband and a tiara. It took a couple tries of placing it different ways before we found the perfect one, and that was another of my favorite moments. It just looked so right. This was another favorite moment of the morning. Everyone oohed and ahhed and then he jammed 500 bobby pins into my head.

Lilly painting my toenails as I got my hair done

The moment we settled on the perfect placement for the hairpiece

Kyle gave me the gift he got for my wedding day – an engraved bottle of Jo Malone Peony & Blush Suede. It has my married name and wedding date on it and smells divine.

My mom popped in at some point with my dress and HOLY COW, did things ever feel real!! She whisked in like a magical wizardress carrying it. It looked so beautiful, I could hardly stand it and boy was I happy to see my mom, because I was getting really nervous. She said the bustle was all ready to go and soon it was time to get into my dress! I couldn’t believe that it was that close to the wedding. Mom also brought the silk robes that I had bought for the bridesmaids and totally forgot about, so I quickly handed them out and we got a photo before I put on my dress! The intention was for them to wear them AS they got ready, but oh well.

Cindy (the coordinator), Jamie (the wife in the photographer couple) and Kim (the wife in the DJ couple!) made sure that the open area between our room and the room where I was to put my dress on was clear of Bill or any guests who had already arrived (I couldn’t believe how early some guests arrived!) and I zoomed over there to wait for my mom to come in with the dress.

Mom carrying the dress down the hall

At this point, I was so nervous that my heart felt like it was going to explode out of my chest and I almost started crying, but I didn’t even know why! I was just so, so, so nervous. My heart was thumping and I was shaking! I almost called Bill to ask him to come and stand outside the door to talk to me. Mom finally came in and got me semi-calmed down and then it was time to put my dress on! The photographers left the room while I got naked and then mom sat the dress up so that I could step into it and then they came back in. The dress felt so silky and smooth inside – way nicer than any that I had tried on in the stores! She realized that she forgot her buttoning tool, so it took longer than expected, but eventually she buttoned all of the buttons and we arranged the “fluff” inside of it. She helped me put my garters on (I had one for tossing and one for keeping) and then I stepped into my shoes! Meanwhile, the photographers were snapping away! My friend Meg baked our cake and she popped into the room while we were getting ready to say hi and she was blown away by the dress mom made! She was the first person (besides mom and the photographers) to see me in my dress and that was a pretty good reaction haha.

Buttoning me!

Garter

Arranging the fluff

Again, people cleared the area for me to walk through and I walked into the room full of my bridesmaids and they all freaked out, just like I imagined! I was still soooo nervous. I couldn’t stop sweating and my hands were shaking! Once my dress was on, my mom ran home to change into her dress. My grandma stopped in to say hi. She wasn’t feeling well that day, but it was still so fun to see her before the wedding! My dad came in to see me and I gave him the gift I got for him, a little hankerchief with a mushy quote about how he might be giving me away, but I’ll always be his little girl. I think he loved it, but he was pretty emotional and nervous too, I think. Mom returned pretty quickly in reality, but I felt like she was gone forever!

Show Nanny the ring bearer pillow made from her dress

Dad reading his hankerchief

In the minutes before it was time to get ready, we were all just standing about with nervous energy buzzing in the air. I sprayed my wedding perfume on and put on all my jewelry. I snapped a picture of Kyle’s boutonniere to pass the time and I posted it on Instagram as a sneak peek. I finished off my glass of champagne and applied some more deodorant (lol). Mom attached my veil and then it was time to line up! She put the veil over my face and we made our way towards the ceremony.

Spraying the perfume! It appears I actually did this before mom left...

Angie snapped this right before

My heart felt like it was literally in my throat, I was so nervous and I told my parents I thought I might pass out. Dad laughed and said I was "feeling vapors.” Mom told me I was being silly and needed to calm down and she later told me that she was afraid I was going to faint, haha!

All of the bridesmaids disappeared one by one as they made their walk down the aisle. I was waiting with Mom and Dad and then I saw our cousins and one of the DJs roll out the aisle runner and then Cindy was beckoning to me that it was TIME! I didn’t move at first so she started motioning a little more dramatically and then we took our first steps into the ballroom!

It was time!

Up next: the ceremony.

*Author's note: my sister tells me that I have some of these things slightly out of chronological order, but that's what happens when you write your blog posts 10 months after your wedding!

1 comment

These pictures are dreamy!! Love the one of you and Angie!!isnt it crazy how fast/slow the day goes?? My hair people were running late, and it made me super nervous. Even my MUA seemed nervous about it though she was a champ about hiding most of it! I'm impressed at how much you remember!

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